Monday, December 31, 2012

We woke up this morning in a great mood because the Redskins did in fact beat the Dallas Cowboys! It is always great to have a win over the Cowboys, but it is even sweeter to win the division title at the same time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued our drive southward with the goal of reaching Bonita Springs today. We have almost all of our warm weather clothing packed away with the intention of not pulling out that luggage until we reach the condo tomorrow.

It has been nice to watch the temperature rise as we move along. Yesterday the high was 50° and today it was 80°. We did not notice such a dramatic change in the temperature last year since Maryland was unseasonably warm when we left and the folks at home experienced an unusually warm winter.

On our drive today, we wanted to stop and look for a special geocache since it was going to be our 700^th find. I am still amazed that some of the smallest towns have geocaches placed in them. After researching the possibilities, we decided to stop in a park area near the highway in Sebring. This cache had a higher difficulty level than most others and we thought it would challenge us. However, I must have been lucky because it was in the second place I looked!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to stop in nearby Lake Placid for lunch and what a delightful surprise this town was.  We learned that the original name of this town, Lake Streams, was changed in 1927 because many residents of Lake Placid, New York, came here for their winter residences.  It is also known as the “Town of Murals” and “The Caladium Capital of the World”. There are over 42 murals painted on the buildings around town and several antique and art shops.
 

We purchased a guide for the murals and spent time walking around town. I stepped into some of the murals:

I found a fishing rod and reel that I would like to try using on our lake at home.

 

 

Cordell seems to be able to catch a fish with his bare hands.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He wasn't afraid to pet an alligator.

 

He met some of his relatives.

Even the trash cans were placed in clever containers! We would have liked to have spent more time in this town as there were so many other interesting things we were no able to see.  I would highly recommend an overnight stay here for anyone passing through this way.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were ready to settle in for the evening. I didn’t dare complain about being too hot this afternoon! We are spending the night in a hotel in Bonita Springs and are anxious to check into our condo tomorrow.  What a day we had to end the year 2012!